A 32-year old man who caused almost a quarter of a million euro worth of damage to three houses in Cork city after setting fire to one of them on Christmas Day two years ago has been jailed for six years and nine months.
The Central Criminal Court was told that Shane Casey, formerly of Shanowen, Rathcormac in Co Cork was on High Court bail for an aggravated burglary offence when the arson attack occurred. He had been discharged from a psychiatric unit ten days before the incident.
Casey went to the property on Dyke Parade in Cork city at around 6pm on Christmas Day, 2023.
The Central Criminal Court was told the owner of the property had been allowing homeless people to stay there as part of his "off grid" lifestyle.
Detective Sergeant Brian Barron said that shortly after 6pm Casey was captured on CCTV going to the door of the property and lighting a small fire outside using an accelerant. That fire quickly burned out.
Dt Sgt Barron said that shortly afterwards, Casey opened the front door of the house and set a fire inside and watched it take hold. He then attempted to barricade the front door from the outside.
Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford was told that Casey was then captured on CCTV holding a blade in front of him and waiting outside the property.
Dt Sgt Barron said that at around 6.10pm one of the men inside tried to escape from the property.
He said Casey swiped at him with the blade twice, slashing his forehead. He said the man had no choice but to retreat back into the burning house.
The man later told gardai his attacker said to him: "My name is Shane Casey and you remember me from two days ago. You are going to die here tonight."
Casey then left the scene.
In the next two minutes, a woman and two men left the house. The last person in the building was a woman who could not get out. She was trapped on the third fire. The fire brigade arrived at 6.17pm.
They rescued the woman from the burning building by removing her from the roof.
The woman who was rescued from the roof was treated for smoke inhalation at the Mercy University Hospital. The man who was attacked by Casey was also hospitalised for smoke inhalation and for treatment of a 2cm laceration to his body.
The court heard that it took six units of the fire brigade more than six hours to bring the blaze under control and to make the property safe. The property contained a large amount of refuse stacked high as the owner did not pay for a bin collection.
The house was extensively damaged and required around €110,000 to make it liveable again.
Dt Sgt Barron said that the owner was without house insurance and was unable to return to his home.
The two properties on either side, which were previously in excellent condition, were also damaged in the arson attack.
One property received at least €120,000 worth of damage, while the other incurred damage costing around €10,000.
Casey, who is unemployed, has 67 previous convictions. These include offences such as criminal damage, endangerment and assault.
His defence counsel Ray Boland said his client had received a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and was suffering from distorted and paranoid thinking at the time of the offence.
He said that his client was dealing with "significant mental health difficulties".
He added that it was an unusual offence as Casey had made no attempt to hide his identity. He also gave one occupant of the house his name.
Casey previously pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to Billy Murphy, producing an article capable of causing a serious injury, namely a blade, and committing arson damaging to three properties at Dyke Parade on Christmas Day, 2023.
A charge of attempted murder was withdrawn by the prosecution.
Ms Justice Lankford was shown CCTV footage of the incident.
This included footage of one occupant of the property having her Christmas dinner dropped to her by her mother just minutes before the house was set on fire.
At sentencing today, Ms Justice Lankford said Casey went to the house at Dyke Parade on Christmas Day, 2023, under the mistaken belief that someone with whom he had an argument was residing there.
She said the people who were residing there were entirely blameless.
She said the property was owned by a man who had lived there for 20 years and was in a state of very significant disrepair, with refuse from floor to ceiling in several rooms. The ground floor and the first floor were practically uninhabitable, she said.
Ms Justice Lankford said it was clear Casey had gone there with the intention of setting the building on fire. She said he knew there were people in the house.
She said it was an extremely serious offence and the total amount of damage done to the house and the two houses on either side of it was €240,000.
She said, however, that the real risk was the risk to life.
She said it was a terrifying ordeal for the four occupants of the house, in particular for one woman who had to wait 45 minutes to be rescued by the fire service from the roof of the building, as it burned beneath her.
"Mr Casey imposed on these people what can only be described as a terrifying ordeal," she said.
She said he told the owner of the building, at knife point, to go back into the building, which was on fire.
Ms Justice Lankford set a headline sentence of 12 years, but reduced it to account for the plea of guilty by Casey.
She said she accepted that Casey came from "a difficult place" and was suffering significant mental health difficulties and had been on medication for paranoid schizophrenia for many years and had addiction issues.
She said he had written two letters of remorse which were very genuine.
She sentenced Casey to seven years and three months in jail, with the final six months suspended.
